FELIX M. WARBURG’S WILL, DISPOSING OF WELL OVER $2,000,000 IN BEQUESTS, IN ADDITION TO PERSONAL PROPERTY AND REAL ESTATE, WAS FILED FOR PROBATE TODAY IN THE OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK COUNTY SURROGATE BY SOL M. STROOCK, THE PERSONAL COUNSEL OF THE BANKER, PHILANTHROPIST AND COMMUNAL LEADER.
THE BEQUESTS SUPPLEMENTED THE UPWARDS OF $13,000,000 WHICH MR. AND MRS. WARBURG GAVE, ACCORDING TO A STATEMENT BY MR. STROOCK, IN THE PAST FIFTEEN YEARS TO PHILANTHROPIC, EDUCATIONAL AND CIVIC ENTERPRISES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, NUMBERING MORE THAN 200.
THE WILL, DATED FEB. 12, 1935, LEAVES TO MRS. FRIEDA SCHIFF WARBURG, THE WIDOW, ALL REAL ESTATE AND PERSONAL PROPERTY; TO EACH OF HIS FIVE CHILDREN, $250,000; TO EACH OF THE EIGHT GRANDCHILDREN, A $100,000 TRUST FUND; $50,000 EACH TO MARION BAB WARBURG AND WALTER N. ROTHSCHILD, HIS SON-IN-LAW, AND $150,000 TO THE EXECUTORS TO BE USED TO AID MR. WARBURG’S RELATIVES.
THE LARGEST BEQUEST TO AN ORGANIZATION IS $50,000 TO THE FEDERATION FOR THE SUPPORT OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETIES OF NEW YORK. A TOTAL OF $57,000 IS DISTRIBUTED TO NINE OTHER INSTITUTIONS, INCLUDING $10,000 EACH TO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, THE SOLOMON AND BETTY LOEB MEMORIAL HOME FOR CONVALESCENTS AT EAST VIEW, N.Y., AND TEACHERS COLLEGE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY.
THE OPENING PARAGRAPH OF THE WILL EXPLAINS WHY OTHER INSTITUTIONS WERE OMITTED.
“AT THE PRESENT TIME I AM OVER SIXTY YEARS OLD,” IT SAYS, ” AND HAVE IN THE MAIN CARRIED OUT DURING MY LIFE MY PHILANTHROPIC PURPOSES WITH RESPECT TO MOST OF THE INSTITUTIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF WHICH I HAVE BEEN FOR MANY YEARS INTERESTED AND I FEEL THAT I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE IN HAVING LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO WATCH THESE INSTITUTIONS GROW AND TO SEE THEIR PLANS MORE OR LESS PERFECTED. FOR THESE REASONS I HAVE OMITTED IN LARGE PART THE BEQUESTS TO CHARITABLE PURPOSES WHICH HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN PREVIOUS WILLS.”
THE EXECUTORS NAMED IN THE WILL ARE THE WIDOW, THE SONS, FREDERICK M. AND PAUL FELIX WARBURG; HIS SON-IN-LAW, WALTER N. ROTHSCHILD, AND NEPHEW, JOHN M. SCHIFF, WITH A PROVISION THAT ONLY THREE OF THEM, AND IN THE ORDER NAMED, SHALL QUALIFY AND ACT AT THE SAME TIME.
PROVISION IS MADE FOR EMPLOYES AT KUHN, LOEB & CO., O F WHICH MR. WARBURG WAS THE SENIOR PARTNER, AND FOR HIS HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYES. THE FIRM’S EMPLOYES RECEIVE FROM $250 TO $2,000 DEPENDING ON LENGTH OF SERVICE, AND THE HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYES $1000 TO $10,000. AN ANNUITY OF 2,500 REICHSMARKS IS PROVIDED FOR MISS SELMA FLIESS OF FRANKFORT, GERMANY, FORMERLY A COMPANION OF MR. WARBURG’S GRANDMOTHER.
THE WILL PROVIDES THAT THE RESIDUE OF THE ESTATE SHALL BE DIVIDED EQUALLY AMONG MR. WARBURG’S SONS.
THE PROPERTY, WHICH WAS LEFT TO MRS. WARBURG, INCLUDES THE WARBURG RESIDENCES IN NEW YORK AND WHITE PLAINS. MRS. WARBURG RECEIVES HIS COLLECTION OF BLACK AND WHITE PRINTS. HIS SON, EDWARD, WHO “SHOWS DECIDED SIGNS OF HAVING INHERITED LOVE OF WORKS OF ART,” IS GIVEN THE RIGHT, AFTER MRS. WARBURG’S DEATH, TO PURCHASE FROM THE ESTATE THE COLLECTION FOR A SUM TO BE DETERMINED BY THE EXECUTORS, OR IF HE FEELS THE COLLECTION IS TOO LARGE OR BURDENSOME, THE OTHER CHILDREN MAY BUY PRINTS NOT EXCEEDING IN AGGREGATE ONE-QUARTER IN VALUE OF THE COLLECTION, THE REST TO GO TO THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
